ManitobaDays before a homeless man allegedly sexually assaulted a nurse in the parkade at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital, he was released from custody following a sentencing where a judge said responding to challenges he faces due to severe mental illness and drug use felt “hopeless.”Past hearings show justice system is ‘completely out of tools for how to deal with this,’ criminologist saysCaitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 31 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.In the most recent allegation against a 27-year-old man, Winnipeg police say he sexually assaulted a nurse in the parkade of St. Boniface Hospital on the night of Nov. 8. He has previous convictions for sexual assaults, thefts and breaches of court orders. (Trevor Brine/CBC)Days before a homeless man allegedly sexually assaulted a nurse in the parkade at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital, he was released from custody following a sentencing where a judge said responding to challenges he faces due to severe mental illness and drug use felt “hopeless.”The now 27-year-old’s record involves convictions for thefts, assaults and breaches of court orders — part of a history that court heard includes struggles with drug addiction, being given up by his adoptive family as a teen after he started showing symptoms of mental illness, and having all 10 fingers amputated after suffering severe frostbite when released from custody one winter with nowhere to go.Court heard the man is from Ethiopia and lost his mother at an early age to complications from HIV. He came to Canada with his brother at age four and was taken in by a family in Winnipeg, but ended up in the care of Child and Family Services at 17 when that family gave him up.The man has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and made a ward of the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba, court heard during his most recent sentencing earlier this month, when he pleaded guilty to a series of grocery store thefts with an estimated worth of just over $300.”It’s certainly a background … no one would wish on anyone,” prosecutor Colin Soul said at that hearing.In the most recent allegation against the man, police say he asked a nurse for the time in the St. Boniface parkade around 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, before she was trapped between two vehicles and sexually assaulted.During the man’s theft sentencing earlier this month, provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine said while reading reports about him, she felt “a little hopeless” in trying to figure out “how the community can assist [him] so that he can have a better life — and so the community is kept safe from some of his behaviours.”Those behaviours include two previous sexual assaults, where the man admitted to approaching women he didn’t know in public and touching their buttocks. In one of those cases, he first tried to sell the woman stolen chocolate bars, and then told her, “I really like your thighs and butt” before touching her, court heard during a previous sentencing.”He’s quite a high risk in the sense that he can’t really manage himself … especially if he is taking drugs and he is not taking his medication,” prosecutor Sivananthan Sivarouban said during that 2024 hearing. While the man had previously found housing through community resources, he’s since “burned bridges” at those kinds of group homes with behaviour that included leaving doors open and allowing strangers to come into the home, defence lawyer Adam Hodge said.”It’s been years since [he] has been in housing,” the lawyer said. “To be frank, I don’t think [he] knows what day of the week it is on any given day.”Criminologist Frank Cormier says it’s ‘virtually inevitable’ that someone with the man’s ‘chaotic’ history would end up in the justice system. (CBC)It’s a case one criminologist says highlights gaps in specialized resources like housing for people with mental health and addictions issues, calling it “virtually inevitable” that a person living the kind of “chaotic and unstable life” described in court would end up breaking the law.”The criminal justice system appears to be completely out of tools for how to deal with this,” said Frank Cormier, an instructor in the University of Manitoba’s department of sociology and criminology. “So the question is, what needs to be done so this person does not keep engaging in behaviours that are against the law and winding up in a criminal justice system that cannot help him?”‘Intellectually, he’s a child’: lawyerCourt heard the man had previously been through Manitoba’s mental health court but didn’t successfully complete that process. Lawyers dealing with his sexual assault case last year weren’t able to get anywhere with alternative justice options either, because he lacked community supports for housing. “Having represented [him] for a very long time, intellectually, he’s a child. He doesn’t care about anything besides immediate needs or wants,” lawyer Hodge said during the man’s sentencing last year.”So when I ask him what he wants to do with his charges … he said, ‘I want to get out.’ That’s it.”In response, provincial court Judge Sandra Chapman said the man would “almost be better” under the system for those found not criminally responsible. They’re under the purview of a review board, “which then would help him get housing and that type of thing,” said Chapman.Criminologist Cormier said the details shared in court about the man suggest there are “either not enough supports or not the right kind of supports” for people in his situation — and said more options for housing, with security levels in between regular supported living and a secure psychiatric facility, could help.Cormier also questioned how much involvement the public trustee — an arm’s-length government agency that makes personal and financial decisions for Manitobans deemed mentally incompetent by a doctor — had in the man’s dealings with the justice system.A provincial spokesperson said in an emailed statement while the public trustee makes personal care decisions for people deemed incapable of doing so, it relies on various resources and professionals working with the person in the community.However, the spokesperson said, there are still times when “a client engages in behaviour that brings them in contact with the criminal justice system,” adding the public trustee could not speak about specific cases.During the man’s sexual assault sentencing last year, Judge Chapman told him that while prosecutors wanted to deal with his case without having to bring him into the justice system, they weren’t able to find a way to do that.”But we really don’t want you back before the courts, OK? Make sure you stay on your medication, all right?” the judge said. “Try to stay away from the drugs.””Thank you,” the man said. ABOUT THE AUTHORCaitlyn Gowriluk has been writing for CBC Manitoba since 2019. Her work has also appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2021 she was part of an award-winning team recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association for its breaking news coverage of COVID-19 vaccines. Get in touch with her at caitlyn.gowriluk@cbc.ca.Follow Caitlyn Gowriluk on X
Man accused of sexually assaulting nurse was released days earlier in case judge called ‘hopeless’
